Michelin Announces Its New York Stars

Michelin, the Paris-based purveyor of gastronomic guides, has released its annual list of starred ratings for New York City restaurants. While much anticipated, it is short on surprises.

All six restaurants that showed up last year in the top category, three stars, have maintained their standing: Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, Masa, Per Se and Jean-Georges. “It’s been 11 years, and I’m very happy about it,” the chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten said.

The news in the two-star category is the elevation of the Modern from one star, which it had when Gabriel Kreuther was the chef, to two, with Abram Bissell now in charge of the kitchen. Mr. Kreuther’s new restaurant, Gabriel Kreuther, which opened in late spring, received one star.

Daniel Boulud, whose restaurant Daniel went last year from three stars to two, retains its two stars, as do Aquavit, Blanca, Ichimura, Jungsik, Marea and Soto. Atera, which had a change of chefs this year, from Matthew Lightner to Ronny Emborg, has also kept its two stars, as has Momofuku Ko, which moved.

In addition to Gabriel Kreuther, there are nine other newcomers among the 60 restaurants in the one-star category: Tempura Matsui, Sushi Yasuda, Cagen, Hirohisa, Somtum Der, Uncle Boons, Rebelle, Semilla and the Finch. Picholine, which kept its one star, will leave its longtime home near Lincoln Center and seek a new space, its chef, Terrance Brennan, said Wednesday.

Sushi Nakazawa, which was not given any stars in last year’s guide, even after receiving rave notices from Pete Wells of The New York Times and other critics, has once again come away empty-handed. “Last year Michelin told us we got no stars because they didn’t have the capability to visit us enough,” Alessandro Borgognone, the restaurant’s managing partner, said. Michelin uses anonymous inspectors who pay for their meals.

The rankings are to be announced Wednesday night at a reception at the Manhattan Classic Car Club. (Michelin is a tire company, after all.) Unlike in past years, Michelin declined to release the ratings to reporters under a news embargo to help them prepare for the announcement. But those grand plans took a detour, as several restaurants, informed of their awards, posted the news on Twitter and other social media. So Michelin agreed to release the news in the afternoon.

The Michelin Guide New York City 2016, which lists nearly 900 restaurants, goes on sale Thursday for $18.99. For the complete ranking: michelinmedia.com.